Etymology

lava

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Today it means: The molten rock ejected by a volcano from a vent such as a crater or fissure; magma that has breached the surface of the earth. Full definition →

Neapolitan and Sicilian lava ← Latin lābēs ← Celtic
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lava · noun1

  1. Proto-Celtic · derived from*līwos
  2. Gaulish · derived from*lawā
  3. Celtic · derived from
  4. Latin · derived fromlābēs“a fall; a collapse; subsidence”
  5. Neapolitan and Sicilian · derived fromlava“lava; downpour overflowing the streets”
  6. English todaylava

From Italian, from Neapolitan and Sicilian lava (“lava; downpour overflowing the streets”), likely from Latin lābēs (“a fall; a collapse; subsidence”); compare lābīna (“landslide”). A supposed relation with lavare (“to wash”) is now widely discredited, nor is there probably any relation with Arabic لابة (lāba, “black volcanic rock”). Alternatively, the Romance words are connected with Provençal lavo, lauvo (“flat stone”), from a Vulgar Latin source borrowed from a Celtic language such as Gaulish *lawā, but ultimately of obscure origin; see Proto-Celtic *līwos for details.

Lava · proper noun2

  1. Sanskrit · borrowed fromलव
  2. English todayLava

Borrowed from Sanskrit लव (lava).

Words from the same roots

Latinlābēs all →

avalanchelauwine

Etymology from Wiktionary, CC BY-SA 4.0.